Cita mortal

THE WEAPON is an unusually-plotted British crime film in which the bombed-out ruins of a post-war London play a large part in the proceedings. The tale is about a group of street urchins playing in said ruins who discover a loaded gun. One of them accidentally shoots a friend and goes on the run, which is when the plot kicks in for real.

The main problem with this film is the unbelievability of the plot. The villain character seems shoehorned into the storyline and never would have been in danger from the police had he simply kept out of things. In addition, the kid who goes on the run would have been out of danger had he simply handed himself in to the police early on. Thus credibility is strained throughout and the film sometimes feel mildly ridiculous as the plot plays out.

The further shoehorning into the story of an American military figure to act as detective is a blatant attempt to get an American lead into the thing, although Steve Cochran is saddled with a very dull character. The inexplicably American mother, Lizabeth Scott, is much better and somebody you end up warming to as the story progresses. George Cole is cast against type and should have stuck to the mild comedy he was far more convincing in. It was a pleasure to see old-timer Herbert Marshall (FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT) in support but he only appears in a couple of scenes.

The main actor is former Oscar winner Jon Whiteley as the precocious child who causes so much trouble. I quite liked him although others may find him a bit irritating. Whiteley has nowadays forgotten about his early acting career and become a museum curator. The exemplary direction is by Val Guest, who brings an atmospheric London to life, teeming with the working class, and the locations have never looked so authentic and lived-in.

While playing, Erik (Jon Whiteley) finds a gun at a bomb site and accidentally shoots a friend. He immediately runs away.

Once ballistics are compared, the police learn it was used in an unsolved murder ten years earlier.

Since the victim was in the army, a hard-nosed MP (Steve Cochran) becomes involved in the case. He has no interest in finding the boy, just the gun.

His attitude changes when he meets Erik's distraught mother Elsa (Lisabeth Scott).

Just one problem. The murderer knows Erik has the gun and is looking for him as well.

Holes the size of Buicks in this one. First of all, what a bunch of lousy shots. During a relentless shootout, no one is even grazed.

Cochran is beaten in the head, and it really looks as though his head is being bashed in. However, it is only a "small concussion" and he's back to work with nothing wrong the next minute.

Also, Erik, with his face on page 1 of the paper and his face plastered on every building, races around town with ease.

Cast against type, Lizabeth Scott delivers a heartfelt performance, and George Cole is an effective villain. The handsome Cochran is able to show some softness, where he is usually a tough guy.

Okay B movie. The actors deserved better.

Always interesting to see a city in the 1950s in films most commonly London of course in UK films. The lack of traffic compared to now is amazing. Still plenty of bomb sites ten years on from the end of the war. An interesting plot with a ring of truth about it as many weapons kept after the war must have been around at this time. George Cole was great as the baddie as he played spivs a lot early in his career so had experience of this type of character. A time capsule of a film which is a very interesting watch and can be recommended but probably not for youngsters, ie those below 50 years old.

This little second string effort from Republic Films was cunningly photographed in London after the Blitz, and there are echoes of The Third Man in much of the atmospherics, as a kid in the run from a crime he did not commit hides at night in crumbling ruins near the Thames, and hungry during the day, hires on for a ham sandwich in a warehouse gearing up for day traffic. The kid flushes out an actual murderer, and the two of them get wrapped up with the two Hollywood actors used for marquee bait, Lizabeth Scott and Steven Cochran, who do their best to make something of not much, with a romance budding in the ruins. Both actors manage well enough, though in their past each could be electrifying; poor Herbert Marshall walks through an uninspiring bit as an English inspector, and the screen does light up with the fascinating and lively appearance of Nicole Maurey as a "professional hostess." If you don't expect a lot of suspense built on logic and honest tension, but are happy with a tour of London at Night and some time with Hollywood Stars going through their paces. this is not a bad 78 minutes at the movies.

Post War British a decade past, hence the genuine bombed-out ruins where a pistol (THE WEAPON) is buried from an unsolved wartime murder, and local little boy Jon Whiteley finds it, accidentally shoots a bully, and runs like hell...

Morphing Val Guest's thriller from war to noir as Whiteley's Erik hits the dark shadowy streets while worried American widow/mom Lizabeth Scott, in her penultimate still-young big screen role, hitting the right emotional marks, is charmed by shady Brit George Cole while putting up with ultra-serious military investigator Steve Cochran...

And Cole, as the sole heavy, has the most fun here, getting to both sneakily and violently interact with side-characters (while charming Scott), including scene-stealing French starlet Nicole Maurey as a tough yet wispy showgirl just past her prime, who eventually shares an emotional turned sizzling/sexy scene with Cochran...

Meanwhile, in the thankless leading role, the handsome WHITE HEAT actor (who slowly warms up to Noir veteran Scott) plays THE WEAPON like a throwback gumshoe more than an MP, and for the sparse run-time, director Val Guest throws everything into the picture including sudden deaths, chases, rooftop fights and race-against-time suspense.